From the folklore of Serbia
Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons and three daughters. At length old age overtook him, and the hour came for him to die. While dying he called to him his three sons and three daughters, and told his sons to let their sisters marry the very first men who came to ask them in marriage. “Do this or dread my curse!” said he, and soon after expired.
Some time after his death there came one night a great knocking at the gate; the whole palace shook, and outside was heard a great noise of squeaking, singing, and shouting, whilst lightnings played round the whole court of the palace. The people in the palace were very much frightened, so that they shook for fear, when all at once someone shouted from the outside, “O princes! Open the door!” Thereupon the king’s eldest son said, “Do not open!” The second son added, “Do not open, for anything in the world!” But the youngest son said, “I will open the door!” and he jumped up and opened it.
The moment he had opened the door something came in, but the brother could see nothing except a bright light in one part of the room; out of this light came these words: “I have come to demand your eldest sister for my wife, and I shall take her away this moment, without any delay; for I wait for nothing, neither will I come a second time to ask for her! Therefore answer me quickly – will you give her or not?”
The eldest brother said, “I will not give her. How can I give her when I cannot see you, and do not know who you are, nor whence you come? You come tonight for the first time, and wish to take her away instantly! Should I not know where I can visit my sister sometimes?”
The second said, “I will not give my sister to-night to be taken away!”
But the youngest said, “I will give her if you will not. Have you forgotten what our father commanded us?” and, with these words, taking his sister by the hand, he gave her away, saying, “May she be to you a happy and honest wife!”
As the sister passed over the threshold everyone in the palace fell to the ground from fear, so vivid was the lightning and loud the claps of thunder. The heavens seemed to be on fire and the whole sky rumbled, so that the whole palace shook as if about to fall. All this however passed over, and soon after the day dawned; when it grew light enough, the brothers went to see if any trace was left of the mighty power to whom they had given their sister, so that they might be able to trace the road by which it had gone. There was, however, nothing which they could see or hear.
The second night, about the same time, there was heard again round the whole palace a great noise, as if an army was whistling and hissing, and at length someone at the door cried out, “Open the door, O prince!” They were afraid to disobey, and opened the door, and some dreadful power began to speak, Give here the girl, your second sister! I am come to demand her!” The eldest brother answered, “I will not give her away!” The second brother said, “I will not give you my sister!” But the youngest said, “I will give her! Have you forgotten what out father told us to do?” So he took his sister by the hand and gave her over, saying, “Take her! May she be honest and bring you happiness!” Then the unseen noises departed with the girl. Next day, as soon as it dawned, all three brothers walked round the palace, and for some distance beyond, looking everywhere for some trace where the power had gone, but nothing could be seen or heard.
The third night, at the same hour as before, again the palace rocked from its very foundations, and there was a mighty uproar outside. Then a voice shouted, “Open the door!” The sons of the king arose and opened the door, and a great power passed by them and said, “I am come to demand your yourself sister!” The eldest and the second son shouted, “No! We will not give our sister this third night! At any rate, we will know before our youngest sister goes away from our house to whom we are giving her, and where she is going, so that we can come to visit her whenever we wish to do so!” Thereupon the youngest brother said, “Then I will give her! Have you forgotten what our father on his death-bed recommended us? It is not so very long ago!” Then he took the girl by the hand and said, “Here she is! Take her! And may she bring you happiness and be happy herself!” Then instantly the power went away with a great noise. When the day dawned the brothers were very anxious about the fate of their sister, but could find no trace of the way in which she had gone.
Some time after the brothers, speaking together, said, “It is really very wonderful what has happened to out sisters! We have no news – no trace of them! We do not know where they are gone, nor whom they have married!” At last they said to each other, “Let us go and try to find our sisters!” So they prepared immediately for their journey, took money for their travelling expenses, and went away in search of their three sisters.
They had travelled some time when they lost their way in a forest, and wandered about a whole day. When it grew dark they thought they would stop for the night at some place where they could find water. So, having come to a lake, they decided to sleep near it, and sat down to take some supper. When the time for sleep came the eldest brother said, “I will keep watch while you sleep!” and so the two younger brothers went to sleep and the eldest watched. In the middle of the night the lake began to be greatly agitated, and the brother who was watching grew quite frightened, especially when he saw something was coming towards him from the middle of the lake. When it came near he saw that it was a terrific alligator with two ears, and it ran at him; but he drew his knife and struck it, and cut off its head. When he had done this he cut off the ears also, and put them in his pocket, the body and the head, however, he threw back into the lake. Meanwhile the day began to dawn, but the two brothers slept on and knew nothing of what their eldest brother had done. At length he awakened them, but told them nothing, so they went on their travels together. When the next day was closing, and it began again to grow dark, they took counsel with each other where they should rest for the night, and where they should find water. They felt also afraid, because they were approaching some dangerous mountains.
Coming to a small lake they resolved to rest there that night; and having made a fire they placed their things near it, and prepared to sleep. Then the second brother said, “This night I will keep guard whilst you sleep!” So the two others fell asleep, and the second brother remained watching.
All at once the lake began to move, and lot! An alligator, with two heads, came running to swallow up the three. But the brother who watched grasped his knife, felled the alligator to the ground with one blow, and cut off both the heads. Having done this he cut off the two pairs of ears, put them in his pocket, and threw the body into the water, and the two heads after it. The other brothers, however, knew nothing about the danger which they had escaped, and continued to sleep very soundly till the morning dawned.
Then the second brother awoke them, saying, “Arise my brothers! It is day!” and they instantly jumped up, and prepared to continue their journey. But they knew not in what country they now were, and as they had eaten up nearly all their food, they feared greatly lest they should die of hunger in that unknown land. So they prayed God to give them sight of some city or village or, at least, that they might meet someone to guide them, for they had already been wandering three days up and down in a wilderness, and could see no end to it. Pretty early in the morning they came to a large lake and resolved to go no further but remain there all the day, and also to spend the night there. “For if we go on,” said they, “we are not sure that we shall find any more water near which we can rest.” So they remained there.
When evening came they made a great fire, took their frugal supper, and prepared to sleep. Then the youngest brother said, “This night I will keep guard whilst you sleep;” and so the other two went to sleep, and the youngest brother kept awake, looking sharply about him, his eyes being turned often towards the lake. Part of the night had already passed, when suddenly the whole lake began to move; the waves dashed over the fire and half quenched it. Then he drew his sword and placed himself near the fire, as there appeared a great alligator with three heads, which rushed upon the brothers as if about to swallow them all three.
But the youngest brother had a brave heart, and would not awaken his brothers, so he met the alligator, and gave him three blows in succession, and at each blow he cut off one of the three hands. Then he cut off the six ears and put them in his pocket, and threw the body and the three heads into the lake. Whilst he was thus busy the fire had quite gone out, so he – having nothing there with which he could light the fire, and not wishing to awaken his brothers from their deep slumbers – stepped a little way into the forest, with the hope of seeing something with which he might rekindle the fire.
There was, however, no trace of any fire anywhere. At last, in his search, he climbed up a very high tree, and, having reached the top, looked about on all sides. After much looking he thought he saw the glare of a fire not very far off. So he came down from the tree and went in the direction in which he had seen the fire, in order to get some brand with which he might again light the fire. He walked very far on this errand, and though the glare seemed always near him, it was a very long time before he reached it. Suddenly, however, he came upon a cave, and in the cave a great fire was burning. Round it sat nine giants, and two men were being roasted, one on each side of the fire. Besides that, there stood upon the fire a great kettle full of the limbs of men ready to be cooked. When the king’s son saw that, he was terrified and would gladly have gone back, but it was no longer possible.
Then he shouted as loud and cheerfully as he could, “Good evening, my dear comrades! I have been a very long time in search of you!”
They received him well, saying, “Welcome! If thou art of our company!”
He answered, “I shall remain yours for ever, and would give my life for your sake!”
“Eh!” said they, “if you intend to be one of us, you know, you must also eat man’s flesh, and go out with us in search of prey?”
The king’s son answered, “Certainly; I shall do everything that you do1”
“Then come and sit with us!” cried the giants; and the whole company, sitting round the fire, took meat out of the kettle and began to eat. The king’s son pretended to eat, also, but instead of eating he always threw the meat behind him, and thus deceived them.
When they had eaten up the whole of the roasted meat the giants got up and said, “Let us now go to hunt, that we may have meat for to-morrow.” So they went away, all nine of them, the king’s son making the tenth. “Come along!” they said to him, “there is a city near in which a great king lives. We have been supplying ourselves with food from that city a great many years.” As they came near the city they pulled two tall pine-trees up by the roots, and carried them along with them. Having come to the city wall, they reared on pine-trees up against it, and said to the king’s son, “Go up, now, to the top of the wall, so that we may be able to give you the other pine-tree, which you must take by the top and throw down into the city. Take care, however,” they said, “to keep the top of the tree in your hands, so that we can go down the stem of it into the city.” Thereupon the king’s son climbed up on the wall and then cried out to them, “I don’t know what to do; I am not acquainted with this place, and I don’t understand how to throw the tree over the wall; please one of you come up and show me what I must do.”
Then one of the giants climbed up the tree placed against the wall, caught the top o the other pine-tree, and threw it over the wall, keeping the top all the time safe in his hand. Whilst he was thus stranding, the king’s son drew his sword, struck him on the neck, and cut his head off, so that the giant fell down into the city.
Then he called to the other eight giants, “Your brother is in the city; come, one after the other, so that I can let you also down into the city!” And the giants, not knowing what had happened to the first one, climbed up one after the other, and thus the king’s son cut off their heads till he had killed all the nine.
After that, he himself slowly descended the pine-tree and went into the city, walking through all the streets, but there was not one living creature to be seen. The city seemed quite deserted. Then he said to himself, “Surely those giants have made this great devastation and carried all the people away.”
After walking about a very long time, he came to a tall tower, and, looking up, he saw a light in one of the rooms. So he opened the door, and went up the steps, into the room. And what a beautiful room it was in which he had entered! It was decorated with gold and silk and velvet, and there was no one there except a girl lying on a couch sleeping. As soon as the king’s son entered, his eyes fell upon the girl, who was exceedingly beautiful. Just then he saw a large serpent coming down the wall, and it had stretched out its head and was ready to strike the girl on the forehead, between the eyes. So he drew his dagger very quickly, and nailed the snake’s head to the wall, exclaiming, “God grant that my dagger may not betaken out of the wall by any hand but my own!” and thereupon he hurried away, and passed over the city wall, climbing up and going down the pine-trees. When he got back to the cavern where the giants had been, he plucked a brand from the fire, and ran away very quickly to the spot where he had left his brothers, and found them still sleeping.
He soon lighted the fire again, and meanwhile the sun having arisen he awoke his brothers, and they arose and all three continued their journey. The same day they came to the road leading to the city. In that city lived a mighty king, who used to walk about the streets every morning, weeping over the great destruction of his people by the giants. The king feared greatly that one day his own daughter might also be eaten up by one of them. That morning he rose very early, and went to look about the city; the streets were all empty, because most of the people of the city had been eaten up by the giants. Walking about, at last he observed a tall pine-tree, pulled up quite by the roots, and leaning against the city wall. He drew near, and saw a great wonder. Nine giants, the frightful enemies of his people, were lying there with their heads off. When the king saw that he rejoiced exceedingly, and all the people who were left, gathered round and praised God, and prayed for good health and good luck to those who had killed the giants. At the moment a servant came running, to tell the king that a serpent had very nearly killed his daughter. So the king hurried back to the palace, and went quickly to the room wherein his daughter was, and there he saw the snake pinned to the wall, with a dagger through its head. He tried to draw the knife out, but he was not able to do so.
Then the king sent a proclamation to all the corners of the kingdom, announcing that whoever had killed the nine giants and nailed the snake to the wall, should come to the king, who would make him great presents and give him his daughter for a wife. This was proclaimed throughout the whole kingdom. The king ordered, moreover, that large inns should be built on all the principal roads, and that every traveller who passed by should be asked if he had ever heard of the man who had killed the nine giants, and any traveller who knew anything about the matter should come and tell what he knew to the king, when he should be well rewarded.
After some time the three brothers, travelling in search of their sisters, came one night to sleep at one of those inns. After supper the master of the inn came in to speak to them, and, after boasting very much what great things he had himself done, he asked them if they themselves had ever done any great thing?
Then the eldest brother began to speak, and said, “After I started with my brothers on this journey, one night we stopped to sleep by a lake in the midst of a great forest; whilst my two brothers slept I watched, and, suddenly, an alligator came out of the lake to swallow us, but I took my knife and cut off its head; if you don’t believe me, see! Here are the two ears from his head!” And he took the ears from his pocket and threw them on the table.
When the second brother heard that, he said, “I kept guard the second night, and I killed an alligator with two heads; if you do not believe me, look! Here are its four ears!” and he took the ears out of his pocket and showed them.
But the youngest brother kept silence. The master of the inn began then to speak to him, saying, “Well, my boy, your brothers are brave men; let us hear if you have not done some bold deed.”
Then the youngest brother began, “I have also done something, though it may not be a great thing. When we stayed to rest the third night in the great wilderness on the shore of the lake, my brothers lay down to sleep, for it was my turn to keep guard. In the middle of the night the water stirred mightily, and a three headed alligator came out and wished to swallow us, but I drew my sword and cut off all the three heads; if you do not believe, see! Here are the six ears of the alligator!” The brothers themselves were greatly surprised, and he continued: “Meanwhile the fire had gone out, and I went in search of fire. Wandering about the mountain I met nine giants in one cave;” and she he went on, telling all that had happened and what he had done.
When the innkeeper heard that he hurried off and told everything to the king. The king gave him plenty of money, and sent some of his men to bring the three brothers to him. When they came to the king, he asked the youngest, “Have you really done all these wonders in this city – killed the giants and saved my daughter from death?” “Yes, your majesty,” answered the king’s son. Then the king gave him his daughter to wife, and allowed him to take the first place after him in the kingdom. After that he said to the two elder brothers, “If you like I will also find wives for you two and build palaces for you.” But they thanked him, saying they were already married, and so told him how they had left home to search for their sisters. When the king heard that, he kept by him only the youngest brother, his son-in-law, and gave the other two each a mule loaded with sacks full of money; and so the two elder brothers went back to their kingdom. All the time, however, the youngest brother was thinking of his three sisters, and many a time he wished to go in search of them again, though he was also sorry to leave his wife. The king would never consent to his going, so the prince wasted away slowly without speaking about his grief.
Source:
Serbian Fairy Tales, Elodie L. Mijatovich, 1918
Kotharian Lightning 